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Cauldron
Magick
(Vessel Magick)
By Ardriana Cahill
“Every
hollow holds a hallow.”
This essay
began as an essay on cauldron magick but it was impossible for me to not see the
comparison of certain kinds of magick and divination that can also be done where
chalices or bowls are employed, such as in my family magickal tradition. So
although it is primarily regarding cauldron magick, I will touch on other
vessels. The
cauldron’s life began as a simple cook pot. It was a practical well of
nourishment to a family. To the herbal wise woman or man, that definition was
extended as a vessel for boiling healing brews and poultices. To the witch, its
use moved a step away from the practical to the magickal where potions were
brewed. The lines over the centuries have blurred trying to define when it took
on magickal properties. At its very
essence the cauldron is made of metallic earth, heated by fire, cooled by air
and tempered by water. It is a vessel of the elements. In contemporary
Witchcraft, a cauldron will be a pot made of cast iron which stands on three
legs and has a handle. For safety’s sake, it should also have a lid. In modern
witchcraft, the very shape of a vessel evokes the feminine divine, the sacred
womb and the origins of life. This tradition is evoked and repeated from many
cultures. “This nine-fold power of the goddess, known as the Toradh of Ana, is especially potent in wells, springs and sacred vessels, such as cauldrons. The specific components of the Toradh are described in: “Nine
Gifts of the Cauldron”
The Cauldron of
Life-Work Cauldron Lore More than
just a symbol of the goddess, the cauldron and its contents have specifically
represented abundance, poetic inspiration (i.e. knowledge, wisdom and
eloquence), physical restoration, regeneration, alchemical transformation,
spiritual or psychic awakening or vision and the ability to discern truth. In Celtic
mythology, these abilities were gained from being near or in the cauldron or
eating or drinking the contents mixed in a cauldron. Similar stories can be
found using a chalice, a bowl or a horn. The most
commonly known stories of the cauldron can be found in Celtic mythology. In
Irish lore, Eochaid Ollathair, also known as the Dagda, possessed a cauldron
that was one of the four sacred objects brought to Ireland by the Tuatha De
Danaan. Its name was Undry and it had the magical capability of providing
infinite sustenance doled out by each man’s merit. In Tara, the home of the
High Kings of Ireland, this was used to magically grant a royal claimant the
authority of divine kingship after eating a meal prepared within it. Sacred
vessels of the goddess often bestow sovereignty and kingship in the myths of
Irish High Kings. In Welsh lore, Cerridwen’s cauldron, Amen, bestowed knowledge and inspiration. Bran the Blessed had the Cauldron of Rebirth which resurrected slain warriors. His legend may be the forerunner to the Keeper of the Holy Grail, the chalice of Jesus. On the Gundestrup cauldron, a Celtic horned God popularly believed to be Cernunnos, is depicted being reborn after having been torn apart and boiled in a cauldron. In Norse mythology, a draught which bestowed poetic inspiration and knowledge was brewed in the kettle/cauldron, Odhroerir. In Greece, even today, every four years the modern Olympic flame is lit in a cauldron during a ritual at the site where the Greek temple of Hera used to stand. The great flame that oversees the games is carried by a torch but the vessel that holds that overseeing flame is called a cauldron.
The Gundestrup Cauldron is thought to have been crafted in Gaul circa. 100 BCE. It was discovered in a peat bog in Denmark in 1891 where scholars suggest the Druids may have placed it as an offering to the deities of Nature. One of the cauldron's 13 panels clearly shows the Celtic horned God known as Cernunnos.
Other forms of a cauldron with identical or similar lore include fire pots which have historically symbolized the god himself and were special pots made for the protection of a sacred flame. Censors are another form of cauldron used as a fire pot or bowl to hold either sacred fire or sacred incense.
Magickal Vessel uses: The modern
use of a witch’s cauldron is to represent the God on an altar or on the ground
representing the element of Fire within the ritual circle. Placed on an altar or
on the grass one must make sure it sits on a fireproof ceramic tile or hotplate.
Pour rubbing alcohol over the salts until the alcohol is about an inch higher than the salts. Hold a lighted match just above the alcohol. The liquid will light and produce a strong orange flame. The flame burns cool, unlike a wood fire, and is difficult to burn things in. When the flame gets low, cover to snuff out completely. Add more rubbing alcohol to the cauldron and relight carefully. The warmer the rubbing alcohol, the quicker it ignites. This fire recipe leaves a significant amount of sediment in the cauldron. Other times
the cauldron is filled with soil or sand to hold a small charcoal brick which is
lit for loose incense to be burned upon. Cone incense can also be simply placed
on the sand or stick incense is stuck into the sand and burned that way. Letters to
the divine or the ancestors, burnt spells and burnt offerings are often lit and
place in the cauldron to burn. Divination
is one of the key uses for the cauldron given its historical nature to impart
vision and truth. Several forms of cauldron divination can be done with fire or
dry ice. Create the cool alcohol fire as above and look into the flames for
images and their symbolic meaning. In a
cauldron filled with sand, (or as in my tradition use a sand-filled ceramic
bowl) we do smoke divination. We judge the curl of the smoke from dried herbs or
incense burnt on a charcoal brick placed in sand. Blow the smoke softly away
from you as you concentrate on a question. Smoke twisting deasil
(clockwise) means NO. Smoke twisting widdershins (counter or
anti-clockwise) means YES. Burn dried Rose or Cherry blossoms for divinations of
love. Use Pecan for questions of employment. Burn Mugwort to ask about prophetic
dreams and Lilac for questions concerning the ancestors. Use Mint, Clove or
Basil for money questions. Use Cinnamon or Sandalwood for questions of success.
Try Carnation, Apple, Bayberry or Cedar for insights into health issues. You can also
fill the cauldron or a bowl with warm water and, with a pair of tongs, drop many
small pieces of dry ice into it. (Dry ice can be purchased from a grocery
store.) Keep adding warm water and more ice as needed to create a steady rise of
mist. As the mist rises, look for images and their symbolic significance that
may reflect your hidden desires. Scrying with
a cauldron or bowl filled with water or wine is an ancient practice. It is a
meditation device whereby, if you can relax your mind and eyes, you may see
images or get impressions of those things you need to attend to or might be
calling to you to investigate further. If meditation is more difficult for you,
add a teaspoon of olive oil or other sacred oil to the water. Stir with you
finger and watch how the oil merges and separates to mesmerize or form symbolic
pictures. In my
tradition, we never used a cauldron. We use a ceramic bowl on the altar for
sympathetic or small burnt offerings such as herbs or flower petals. (Cauldrons
were way too witchly for witches in hiding. A magickal bowl could be left on a
table unnoticed.) I often place glass enclosed spell candles dressed with oils
in the bowl then surround them with stones and sprinkle appropriate herbs. Here,
I place written spells under the candle at the beginning of a spell or burn them
before or after the completion of the spell. The bowl becomes a magickal altar
unto itself, much like the cauldron which is used for many sacred purposes with
or without an altar. Like the cauldron, the bowl is feminine in nature but is
largely used with element of Fire in the tradition of Helios, the sun god, who
completed his daily rounds “floating” back to his Eastern palace in a golden
bowl. Bowls called
Phiales were also used by the ancient Greeks for oil or wine libations, poured
into the ground or river to honor the dead or the gods. The Patera, a broad,
shallow dish was used for ritual drinking and was thought to impart blessing.
Much like the food or drink from the sacred cauldron, these vessels were first
designed for material sustenance and later interpreted for use in spiritual
sustenance. The cauldron or bowl can also be used filled with water for a floral
offering to celebrate joy or to burn flowers in to denote sorrow. Chalices of oil were burned on ancient Greek and Roman altars. In modern witchcraft, the chalice is another vessel of the goddess or feminine divine and not often used with the element of fire, but it could be with the same precautions of sand and fireproofing that metal cauldrons and ceramic bowls use. However, never try this with glass chalices. Chalices may also be placed on an altar or on ritual ground as a symbol of the element Water. Magickal chalices evolved in history much the same way cauldrons did, imparting the gifts of transformation, healing and immortality.
Ardagh Chalice, c. 800-899 AD. Found in 1847 by a small boy digging for potatoes The most
famous chalice is the cup of Christ as told in Authurian lore which bestows
immortality to anyone who drinks from it. The Cup of Jamshid, was a cup of
divination and also bestowed immortality in Persian mythology. In Greek
mythology, the cup of Circe brings Ulysses under her control. Apollo had a
magickal cup called Crater. And Dionysus had a magickal cup called a kantharos,
that like so many magickal vessels, would never empty. What is stated in James Joyces’ Finnegan’s Wake is a long established tradition that “every hollow hold a hallow.” These “hollows”, be they cauldron, bowl or cup, have been used throughout mythology as magickal tools for divination, transformation and rejuvenation. Let these serve you this Samhain, to evoke abundance, poetic inspiration, restoration, regeneration, transformation, spiritual or psychic awakening or vision or the ability to discern truth. Or if not these, use them to connect you to the history of your magickal heritage. ©
2009 Ardriana Cahill
Sources: Finnegan's
Wake, James Joyce
p.25
Other
References: Wikipedia
Ardriana
Cahill lives in Western USA and is a Hereditary Witch, den of Clan McCormick and
a Kell of Brighid since 1998.
Best wishes and Blessed Be
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Site Contents - Links to all Pages
A Universal Message:
Let there be peace in the world - Where have all the flowers gone?
About me: My Personal Page / My Place in England / My Family Tree (Ancestry)
Wicca & Witchcraft
Wicca/Witchcraft / What is Wicca / What is Magick
Traditional Writings:
The Wiccan Rede / Charge of the Goddess / Charge of the God / The Three-Fold Law (includes The Law of Power and The Four Powers of the Magus) / The Witches Chant / The Witches Creed / Descent of the Goddess / Drawing Down the Moon / The Great Rite Invocation / Invocation of the Horned God / The 13 Principles of Wiccan Belief / The Witches Rede of Chivalry / A Pledge to Pagan Spirituality
Correspondence Tables:
Incense / Candles / Colours / Magickal Days / Stones and Gems / Elements and Elementals
Traditions:
Traditions Part 1 - Alexandrian Wicca / Aquarian Tabernacle Church (ATC) / Ár Ndraíocht Féin (ADF) / Blue Star Wicca / British Traditional (Druidic Witchcraft) / Celtic Wicca / Ceremonial Magic / Chaos Magic / Church and School of Wicca / Circle Sanctuary / Covenant of the Goddess (COG) / Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS) / Cyber Wicca / Dianic Wicca / Eclectic Wicca / Feri Wicca /
Traditions Part 2 - Gardnerian Wicca / Georgian Tradition / Henge of Keltria / Hereditary Witchcraft / Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (H.O.G.D.) / Kitchen Witch (Hedge Witch) / Minoan Brotherhood and Minoan Sisterhood Tradition / Nordic Paganism / Pagan Federation / Pectic-Wita / Seax-Wica / Shamanism / Solitary / Strega / Sylvan Tradition / Vodoun or Voodoo / Witches League of Public Awareness (WLPA) /
Other things of interest:
Gods and Goddesses (Greek
Mythology) / Esbats &
Full Moons / Links
to Personal Friends & Resources / Wicca/Witchcraft
Resources / What's a spell? /
Circle Casting and
Sacred Space / Pentagram
- Pentacle / Marks
of a Witch / The Witches
Power / The Witches Hat
/ An
esoteric guide to visiting London / Satanism
/ Pow-wow
/ The
Unitarian Universalist Association / Numerology: Part 1
/ Part 2 / Part
3 / A
history of the Malleus Maleficarum: includes: Pope
Innocent VIII /
The
papal Bull /
The
Malleus Maleficarum /
An extract from the Malleus Maleficarum
/ The letter of approbation
/ Johann
Nider’s Formicarius /
Jacob
Sprenger /
Heinrich Kramer /
Stefano Infessura
/ Montague Summers /
The Waldenses
/ The Albigenses
/
The Hussites / The
Native American Sun Dance
/ Shielding (Occult
and Psychic Protection) /
Sabbats and Festivals:
The Sabbats in History and Mythology / Samhain (October 31st) / Yule (December 21st) / Imbolc (February 2nd) / Ostara (March 21st) / Beltane (April 30th) / Litha (June 21st) / Lammas/Lughnasadh (August 1st) / Mabon (September 21st)
Rituals contributed by Crone:
Samhain / Yule / Imbolc / Ostara / Beltane / Litha / Lammas / Mabon
Tools:
Tools of a Witch / The Besom (Broom) / Poppets and Dolls / Pendulums / Cauldron Magick / Mirror Gazing
Animals:
Animals in Witchcraft (The Witches Familiar and Totem Animals) / Antelope / Bats / Crow / Fox / Frog and Toads / Goat / Honeybee / Kangaroo / Lion / Owl / Phoenix / Rabbits and Hares / Raven / Robin Redbreast / Sheep / Spider / Squirrel / Swans / Unicorn / Wild Boar / Wolf / Serpent / Pig / Stag / Horse / Mouse / Cat / Rats / Unicorn
Trees:
In Worship of Trees - Myths, Lore and the Celtic Tree Calendar. For descriptions and correspondences of the thirteen sacred trees of Wicca/Witchcraft see the following: Birch / Rowan / Ash / Alder / Willow / Hawthorn / Oak / Holly / Hazel / Vine / Ivy / Reed / Elder
Sacred Sites:
Mystical Sacred Sites - Stonehenge / Glastonbury Tor / Malta - The Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni / Avebury / Cerne Abbas - The Chalk Giant / Ireland - Newgrange /
Rocks and Stones:
Stones - History, Myths and Lore
Articles contributed by Patricia Jean Martin:
Apophyllite / Amber / Amethyst / Aquamarine / Aragonite / Aventurine / Black Tourmaline / Bloodstone / Calcite / Carnelian / Celestite / Citrine / Chrysanthemum Stone / Diamond / Emerald / Fluorite / Garnet / Hematite / Herkimer Diamond / Labradorite / Lapis Lazuli / Malachite / Moonstone / Obsidian / Opal / Pyrite / Quartz (Rock Crystal) / Rose Quartz / Ruby / Selenite / Seraphinite / Silver and Gold / Smoky Quartz / Sodalite / Sunstone / Thunderegg / Tree Agate / Zebra Marble
Wisdom and Inspiration:
Knowledge vs Wisdom by Ardriana Cahill / I Talk to the Trees / Awakening / The Witch in You / A Tale of the Woods / I have a Dream by Martin Luther King /
Articles and Stories about Witchcraft:
Murdered by Witchcraft / The Fairy Witch of Clonmel / A Battleship, U-boat, and a Witch / The Troll-Tear (A story for Children) / Goody Hawkins - The Wise Goodwife / The Story of Jack-O-Lantern / The Murder of the Hammersmith Ghost / Josephine Gray (The Infamous Black Widow) / The Two Brothers - Light and Dark
Old Masters of Academia:
Pliny the Elder / Hesiod / Pythagoras
Biographies
A "Who's Who" of Witches, Pagans and other associated People (Ancient, Past and Present)
(Departed Pagan Pioneers, Founders, Elders and Others)
Pagan
Pioneers: Founders, Elders, Leaders and Others
Abramelin the Mage / Agrippa / Aidan A Kelly / Albertus Magnus - “Albert the Great” / Aleister Crowley - “The Great Beast” / Alex Sanders - “King of the Witches” / Alison Harlow / Allan Bennett - the Ven. Ananda Metteyya / Allan Kardec (Spiritism) / Alphonsus de Spina / Amber K / Ann Moura / Anna Franklin / Anodea Judith / Anton Szandor LaVey / Arnold Crowther / Arthur Edward Waite / Austin Osman Spare / Balthasar Bekker / Biddy Early / Barbara Vickers / Bridget Cleary - The Fairy Witch of Clonmel / Carl " Llewellyn" Weschcke / Cecil Hugh Williamson / Charles Godfrey Leland / Charles Walton / Christopher Penczak / Christina Oakley Harrington / Cornelius Loos / Damh the Bard - "Dave Smith" / Dion Fortune / Dolores Aschroft-Nowicki / Donald Michael Kraig / Doreen Valiente / Dorothy Morrison / Dr. John Dee & Edward Kelly / Dr. Leo Louis Martello / Edain McCoy / Edward Fitch / Eleanor Ray Bone - “Matriarch of British Witchcraft” / Eliphas Levi / Ernest Thompson Seton / Ernest Westlake / Fiona Horne / Frederick McLaren Adams - Feraferia / Friedrich von Spee / Francis Barrett / Gavin and Yvonne Frost and the School and Church of Wicca / Gerald B. Gardner - The father of contemporary Witchcraft / Gwydion Pendderwen / Hans Holzer / Helen Duncan / Herman Slater - Horrible Herman / Heinrich Kramer / Isaac Bonewits / Israel Regardie / Ivo Domínguez Jr. / Jack Whiteside Parsons - Rocket Science and Magick / James "Cunning" Murrell - The Master of Witches / Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone / Jean Bodin / Jessie Wicker Bell - “Lady Sheba” / Johann Weyer / Johannes Junius - "The Burgomaster of Bamberg" / Johann Georg Fuchs von Dornheim - the “Hexenbrenner” (witch burner) / John Belham-Payne / John George Hohman - "Pow-wow" / John Gerard / John Gordon Hargrave and the Kibbo Kith Kindred / John Michael Greer / John Score / Joseph “Bearwalker” Wilson / Joseph John Campbell / Karl von Eckartshausen / Lady Gwen Thompson - and "The Rede of the Wiccae" / Laurie Cabot - "the Official Witch of Salem" / Lewis Spence / Lodovico Maria Sinistrari / Ludwig Lavater / Madeline Montalban and the Order of the Morning Star / Margaret Alice Murray / Margot Adler / Michael Howard and the UK "Cauldron Magazine" / Margaret St. Clair - the “Sign of the Labrys” / Marie Laveau - " the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans" / Marion Weinstein / Martin Antoine Del Rio / Matthew Hopkins - “The Witch-Finder General” / Max Ehrmann and the "Desiderata" / Michael A. Aquino - and The Temple of Set / Monique Wilson / Montague Summers / Nicholas Culpeper / Nicholas Remy / M. R. Sellars / Mrs. Maud Grieve - "A Modern Herbal" / Oberon Zell-Ravenheart and Morning Glory / Old Dorothy Clutterbuck / Old George Pickingill / Olivia Durdin-Robertson - co-founder of the Fellowship of Isis / Paddy Slade / Pamela Colman-Smith / Paracelsus / Patricia Crowther / Patricia Monaghan / Patricia “Trish” Telesco / Paul Foster Case and the “Builders of the Adytum” mystery school / Peter Binsfeld / Philip Heselton / Raven Grimassi / Raymond Buckland / Reginald Scot / Richard Baxter / Robert Cochrane / Robert ‘von Ranke’ Graves and the "The White Goddess" / Rosaleen Norton - “The Witch of Kings Cross” / Rossell Hope Robbins / Ross Nichols and the " Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids" (OBOD) / Rudolf Steiner / Sabrina Underwood - "The Ink Witch" / Scott Cunningham / Selena Fox - founder of "Circle Sanctuary" / Silver Ravenwolf / Sir Francis Dashwood / Sir James George Frazer and the " The Golden Bough" / S.L. MacGregor Mathers and the “Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn” / Starhawk / Stewart Farrar / Sybil Leek / Ted Andrews / The Mather Family - (includes: Richard Mather, Increase Mather and Cotton Mather ) / Thomas Ady / T. Thorn Coyle / Vera Chapman / Victor & Cora Anderson and the " Feri Tradition" / Vivianne Crowley / Walter Brown Gibson / Walter Ernest Butler / William Butler Yeats / Zsuzsanna Budapest /
Many of the above biographies are briefs and far from complete. If you know about any of these individuals and can help with additional information, please contact me privately at my email address below. Many thanks for reading :-)
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